PP42A-02: Exploring the Human Ecology of the Younger Dryas Extraterrestrial Impact Event
* Kennett, D J (dkennett@uoregon.edu), Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States
Erlandson, J M (jerland@uoregon.edu), Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States
Braje, T J (tbraje@uoregon.edu), Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States
Culleton, B J (bculleto@uoregon.edu), Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States
Several lines of evidence now exist for a major extraterrestrial impact event in North America at 12.9 ka (the YDB). This impact partially destabilized the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, triggered abrupt Younger Dryas cooling and extensive wildfires, and contributed to megafaunal extinction. This event also occurred soon after the well established colonization of the Americas by anatomically modern humans. Confirmation of this event would represent the first near-time extraterrestrial impact with significant effects on human populations. These likely included widespread, abrupt human mortality, population displacement, migration into less effected or newly established habitats, loss of cultural traditions, and resource diversification in the face of the massive megafaunal extinction and population reductions in surviving animal populations. Ultimately, these transformations established the context for the special character of plant and animal domestication and the emergence of agricultural economies in North America. We explore the Late Pleistocene archaeological record in North America within the context of documented major biotic changes associated with the YDB in North America and of the massive ecological affects hypothesized for this event.